I felt guilty but compelled to make the same observation to my husband this morning. I'm not denying the horror of what took place nor do I mena to be disrespectful of the families and friends who lost their loved ones, but how do we mourn the Iraqis who are killed every day? We will not know their names and stories of their lives and we will not have a moment of silence for them. I am also disgusted that Bush will go to the convocation but he does not attend the funerals of any of the soldiers who died in Iraq. Its a PR opportunity for him.

Sent by ap | 11:45 AM ET | 04-17-2007

Iraq had thousands of people in it before the war whose job it was to kill people every day. The killings there are a rational decision by key interest groups who are willing to slaughter the innocent for their own political gain. Comparing that culture and environment to the anything in the US is absurd.

Sent by Marc | 1:28 PM ET | 04-17-2007

I also thought about how the daily killings in Iraq are just a normal part of the daily body count that no longer make front page news. Marc sees the daily body count in Iraq as part of their culture, I wonder how many other nations see the growing number of campus massacres as part of the normal American gun culture where the right to own a gun is more important than the right to live without fear of being shot anywhere, anytime for any reason or non reason.

Sent by Jesse | 2:36 PM ET | 04-17-2007

So long as our government emphasizes the use of and 'justification' for the use of military means to resolve international disputes, and our media and culture glorify 'me-first-ness' and the resolution of interpersonal problems by violence, there will be tradedies such as Virginia Tech.

A nation cannot simultaneously justify military force and capital punishment, and hope to encourage a peaceful, harmonious public interaction.

Sent by Peter Edgerton | 1:05 PM ET | 04-18-2007